DETROIT — The Detroit Pistons played closer to his hometown when Kyle Kuzma was growing up, but it was still hard for him to get to Auburn Hills from Flint. He didn’t usually have the money to go, anyway.

The commute has only gotten longer, and community struggles in Flint have only gotten harder since those days. But Kuzma was heartened to see special guests for Friday’s game in Detroit: a group of children from his native city.

“A lot of those kids were at my camp this summer, so they were very excited to see me,” he said. “A couple kids they do remember me. It was an awesome feeling just seeing people from Flint.”

The kids, who were guests of Pistons owner Tom Gores through his charity Flint Now, were treated to a dual exhibition of Flint players in the NBA: Both Kuzma and JaVale McGee hail from the troubled town, whose water has been rendered nearly unusable for years thanks to public mismanagement.

The situation is still difficult there, but there is a lot of outreach. Kuzma ran his basketball camp there over the summer, and McGee’s charity Juglife promotes healthy drinking water.

While the Lakers had limited time in Detroit after a delayed flight out of Toronto, both Kuzma and McGee made a small window to say hello to the visiting kids. McGee said he high-fived them.

“Means a lot, because being a kid from Flint I know how much it means to see people who are successful from your city just making it,” he said. “So I know it means a lot to them also, so I enjoy doing things of that nature.”

Both players say they’ve bonded a little over their shared hometown: Kuzma estimates that McGee grew up 10 minutes away from him. Showing success stories from Flint means a lot to both men, and it’s a responsibility each takes seriously.

In the long odds to make it out of town, McGee said he thinks he sees some commonalities in the way they both grew up, especially between their moms, Karri Kuzma and Pamela McGee.

“I feel like both of us have really strong mothers,” he said, “who really took advantage and cared for us and made sure we were on the right path to make it out.”